You are here

The Freedom Seder, 44 Years Later

Multimedia

Enlarge Image »
Rabbi Arthur Waskow (right), founder and director of The Shalom Center and leader and author of the original 1969 Freedom Seder, discusses what freedom means today during a breakout discussion group.

As part of the 2013 Philadephia International Festival of the Arts, the National Museum of American Jewish History held the Freedom Seder Revisited, which took place on March 28.

Over 250 people gathered to hear community leaders commemorate the first Freedom Seder, which took place on April 4, 1969, one year after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. The seder was the first major event to publicly connect the sruggles of the Israelites enslaved in Egypt with the struggles of African-Americans to achieve equality and liberation in the United States. Among the speakers at the March 28 event was Rabbi Arthur Waskow, the founder and director of The Shalom Center, who was also the leader and author of the original Freedom Seder.

The evening at the museum featured learning opportunities like spirited discussions led at each table, mulitcultural celebrations and the opportunity for all attendees to take a tour of the museum's current special exhibition, Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow: Jewish Refugee Scholars at Black Colleges.